


Farewell

by watermelonriddles



Category: Good Girls (TV)
Genre: Canon Compliant, Dean is mostly mentioned, F/M, Kissing, Rio is a little soft, based on That bedroom scene
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-16
Updated: 2019-04-16
Packaged: 2020-01-14 18:48:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,475
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18482224
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/watermelonriddles/pseuds/watermelonriddles
Summary: "Beth hasn’t been able to stop thinking about her decision ever since Dean walked into the kitchen that morning. I want you to pick, he had said. That gangbanger or us. The argument had stretched out. Beth rolling her eyes, determined that she didn’t need to pick but Dean was dead set on it. [...] She still hasn’t given him an answer. She knows what it is but she couldn’t. Not yet. [...] When Beth finally looks up, Rio is still stood across the room."





	Farewell

Beth hasn’t been able to stop thinking about her decision ever since Dean walked into the kitchen that morning. _I want you to pick_ , he had said. _That gangbanger or us_. The argument had stretched out. Beth rolling her eyes, determined that she didn’t need to pick but Dean was dead set on it. Despite initially giving her a choice, he said that he didn’t want to divorce her and that he didn’t want to fight for custody but he would and that really took all of her choices away. Not that she would pick Rio over her kids, she would never, but in reality, she wasn’t so sure she would have chosen at all.

She’s in her bedroom now, stood by the head of the bed, just in front of her bedside table. Dean’s ultimatum has disrupted her day. She’s dressed, ready for work, but after Dean left to take the kids to school and run some errands, she didn’t go to work. She still hasn’t given him an answer. She knows what it is but she couldn’t. Not yet.

When Beth finally looks up, Rio is still stood across the room. He’s in front of her chest of drawers with his hands held behind his back. After Dean had left the house, she had had some things to deal with regarding her decision but once it was all dealt with, she had called Rio and told him to come over. She made sure he understood it wasn’t a request before she hung up the phone. He showed up almost immediately and her bedroom felt like the best place to have this conversation. It’s out of the way. They won’t be interrupted.

Rio hasn’t said a word since he arrived. He’s been waiting for her to explain but Beth’s taking her time. While she knows it’s the right choice, she doesn’t want to make it. This whole situation is going to be difficult one way or another and she wants to drag it out but then when she just continues to look at him, he tilts his head to the side and watches her curiously.

“I’m out.” She feels proud that her voice is strong especially when it feels like every inch of her is shaking.

“Excuse me?”

“You heard me,” Beth says because she’s confident that he did. Rio doesn’t miss a thing.

He straightens up a little and takes a couple of steps forward. “You gonna elaborate?”

“You were right,” she tells him as she pulls off her blazer and lays it on the bed. “I can’t be a mother and a drug dealer at the same time. I have to pick.” She walks forward until she’s stood by the end of the bed. “I choose them.”

He seems to contemplate that for a moment. “I never said you couldn’t have both.”

“You did.” Beth shrugs a little, offering up a small smile. “And you were right.”

Rio narrows his eyes a little at her. She can practically see the cogs turning as he tries to figure out what her game is. “You just gotta learn to balance,” he tells her. “Sometimes you gotta make tough decisions.”

“I’ve already made up my mind.”

“That your choice?”

“Who else’s would it be?” She tries to move swiftly past that, hoping he won’t answer. She doesn’t want to talk about Dean. “I’ve already got the ball rolling with the dealership. You’ll have time to figure something else out. With my part of the cut, you should have enough money to find an alternative.”

Rio doesn’t even linger on the dealership. It surprises her. She had expected their business arrangement to be the biggest obstacle. “I can think of someone.” He holds up his left hand and wiggles his ring finger. “Or am I wrong?”

He’s not going to make this easy, Beth realises, so she racks her brain for the best way to make him see that her choice is final. Something that he can’t possibly disagree with and when she realises what it is, she stands up a little straighter. “I was never a boss.”

At that, he closes the space between them. When he stops, they are practically chest to chest and, with the absence of her heels, she has to look up at him a little. She doesn’t say anything. She can’t. He’s so close. She can hear his breathing and she can’t help but think that if she reaches out and places a hand against his chest she could probably feel the steady beating of his heart.

“You’re not a boss, huh?”

Beth nods her head. He has to believe that too, right? After everything. “I’m not a boss.”

He brings his hand up then. His finger nudges her hair out of the way before it trails down, lightly following the curve of her face. “Elizabeth,” he says softly as his hand falls away.

She can see it in his eyes. It’s one of those rare occasions where he’s easy to read and she wishes that he wasn’t because she can already tell that he’s going to argue, that he’s not going to make this easy for her. She can’t have that. It’ll break her. So instead she kisses him.

Her hands are on his shoulders for support as she lifts herself onto her tiptoes a little for better access. It’s only meant to be a distraction but then he kisses her back and her mind races. One of his hands is on her hip and his lips are softer than she could have imagined and the whole thing is making her spiral.

When Beth pulls away, she still hovers close to him. His eyes are on hers and then her lips. As she searches his face she notes that his lips are parted slightly, the bottom one jutting out just a little. It takes every ounce of restraint in her not to take it between her teeth and lightly nibble. In her distracted state, she doesn’t notice his arm wrap securely around her waist until she’s forced to lean into him a little.

One of her hands slips from his shoulder a little to press against his chest. “ _Rio_.”

Beth wants to shake her head, she really does, but she can’t. She would pick her family over the business any day of the week, especially after all of the panic not too long ago with Jane going missing. And while she would still pick them over Rio, the thought of actually taking a step back really did feel like a punch to the gut. Could she keep him in her life and still step away from the business? She wasn’t so sure. And in the end, that was Dean’s ultimatum. He wanted her to stay away from Rio more than anything.

Rio watches her the entire time as if he’s still trying to figure it all out. She looks him right in the eye as her hand snakes up to touch his neck. As her fingers ghost against his tattoo, he shivers. She hopes he can see it. How much she hates this. That she doesn’t want to choose but she has to. She’s a mother. He’s heard it enough times. And maybe he does get it or maybe he’s just trying to argue some more because the next thing Beth knows, he’s kissing her.

He had lunged forward with so much force that if he didn’t have his arm around her, she might have fallen backward. Her arms wrap around his neck for more support as she kisses him back. This time everything is deeper and more frantic. No. _Desperate._

It takes Beth by surprise how much Rio puts into the kiss. In all of the time they’ve known each other she’s not so sure she’s even seen this amount of emotion coming from him. At least not all at once. He’s putting everything he can into the kiss. Her lips already feel bruised but she can’t stop kissing him back. It feels so right having him pressed up against her.

She can’t decide if it’s Rio’s version of goodbye or if it’s him pleading with her to reconsider choosing at all. In the end, she makes the decision herself by breaking the kiss. Her lips tingle and he has this slightly dazed look about him. It takes a little effort but she manages to unwrap herself from him and step away from his embrace. He watches her every move as closely as possible.

Deep breathes. Beth has to take a few of them. When she finally looks him in the eye, he’s impossible to read once again. Somehow the makes it worse but she powers through. Her hand reaches up to gently caress his face and as he leans into her touch, she says it. “Goodbye, Rio.”

**Author's Note:**

> I don't know what this is but I do know I need Good Girls to give me that bedroom scene already. I have to know what's up.


End file.
